Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE OF THE INVENTION
[00011 STACKABLE SNACK FOOD ITEMS, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR
STACKING AND TRANSPORTING SAME
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0002] This patent application claims the priority from the provisional
application 61 /305,670, filed on February 18, 2010.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR
DEVELOPMENT
[0003] N/A
NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT
[0004] N/A
REFERENCE TO A "SEQUENCE LISTING"
[0005] N/A
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
[0006] The present invention relates to stackable snack food items,
such as cookies, of uniform size and shape, system and method for
stacking and transporting same.
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Description of Related Art
[0007] As various types of snack foods have been invented and
introduced to the market, various food packaging systems and methods
have also been proposed and utilized to accommodate such snack foods.
[0008] One of very common methods of packaging snack food items
such as cookies and chips is to pack such food items in an slightly inflated
bag, such that, when packaged in a delivery box, inflation of the bag
prevents food items therein from squashed or crashed so that they
maintain its shape. This would allow such snack food items to be less
uniform in size or shape; however, once the bag is opened, food items left
therein are vulnerable to pressures applied from outside the bag. Since
snack food items are not uniformly shaped or sized, this method could
easily take up much more space for a small volume, thus it is not an
efficient way of packaging snack food items.
[0009] Bagged snack food items are also not suitable for presentation
as it is typically transported into a dish or bowl for presentation and
consumption.
[0010] The other common methods of packing snack food items is to
have relatively uniformly shaped and sized food items arranged on a tray,
and encloses the food items with the tray in a bag. While this has
improved efficiency of packaging food items in smaller space and provided
better protection for preventing the food items from being squashed, and
provided a better presentation for consumption (i.e. the tray can be used
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for serving), it does not provide sufficient protection for the pressure
coming from the tray opening, i.e. from the top. This solution also failed
to provide a better way of re-enclosing (or resealing) the snack food items
after the partial consumption of the snack food items.
[0011] To improve these deficiencies, US Patent No. 3,498,798 issued
on March 3, 1970 to Baur et al. proposed a packaging of chip-type snack
food products, where chip-type snack food products are produced in
uniform size and shape to promote stacking in a cylindrical tube container.
However, as a user consumes the snack food items from the container in a
tubular shape, it gets harder to pick the snack food items from or near the
bottom of the container as the user may have to push his or her hand
inside. Thus, there is a long felt need for further improvement for
packaging snack food items, such as cookies.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0012] An object of the present invention is to provide stackable
snack food items, system and method for stacking and transporting such
stackable food items.
[001 3] Another object of the present invention is to provide a system
for stacking and transporting stackable snack food items that can be used
for serving.
[0014] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a
system for stacking and transporting stackable snack food items that can
be resealed easily after partial consumption.
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[001 5] Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a
system for stacking and transporting stackable snack food items that can
be reused as a cooking or molding tool to assist making stackable snack
food items.
[0016] Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a
system for stacking and transporting stackable snack food items that
allows accessing to and retrieving the snack food items one at the time
such that it prevents a user from touching multiple items at one time for
hygiene purposes.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING
[001 7] Fig. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of the present
invention;
[0018] Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the first embodiment of the
present invention;
[0019] Fig. 3 is another exploded view of the first embodiment of the
present invention with snack food items being stacked together vertically;
[0020] Fig. 4 is a exploded view of a second embodiment of the
present invention;
[00211 Fig. 5 is another exploded view of the second embodiment of
the present invention with snack food items being stacked together
vertically;
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[0022] Fig. 6 is a top view of a cover or cover portion of the first or
second embodiment, respectively, of the present invention;
[0023] Fig. 7 is a top view of the snack food items and a holder;
[0024] Fig. 8 is a bottom perspective view of a cover or base member
of the snack food item holder; and
[0025] Fig. 9 is a bottom perspective view of the bottom surface of
the tubular member of the container.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0026] A first embodiment of the snack food container 10 of the
present invention is shown in Fig. 1, comprising a cylindrical / tubular
shape container 11 for packaging snack food items therein, and a cover 12
substantially corresponds to the shape and size of an opening 5 of the
container 11 such that the cover 12 frictionally engages and detachably
closes the opening 5 of the container 1 1 . In the preferred embodiment of
the present invention, snack food items are cookies. Alternatively, the
cover 12 and opening 5 of the container 11 may be equipped with other
types of corresponding detachable fastening or attachment means. The
cover 12 may have a handle 13 for easier handling by a user.
[0027] Fig. 2 shows an exploded view of the container 10. A snack
food item holder 15 comprises a base member 16 and a pole member 17
attached to the base member 16 at the first end, which substantially
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corresponds to the height of the tubular container 1 1. The snack food
item holder 15 is slidably inserted into the tubular container 11, and the
cover 12 closes the opening 5 of the tubular container 11 to enclose the
snack food items (not shown) inside the container 10. The snack food
item holder 15 may optionally have a handle 19 at the second end of the
pole member 17, allowing a user to handle the snack food item holder 15
easily.
[00281 Fig. 3 shows another exploded view of the container 10 with
snack food items 18 stacked on along the pole member 17 of the snack
food item holder 15. Each snack food items 18 has a generally uniformed
size and shape with an opening 35 (shown in Fig. 7) about the center
thereof so that the pole member 17 would be inserted through the
opening 35. This may assist centering and aligning the snack food items
18 along the pole member 17 of the snack food item holder 15. For
improving the efficiency of using the space within the container 10, the
snack food items 18 may have generally flat top and bottom surfaces (not
shown). In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, each snack
food items 18 is shaped like donut as shown in the accompanying figures.
[00291 Once the snack food items 18 are stacked together on the
snack food item holder 15, and then inserted into the tubular container
1 1, then close the opening 5 of the tubular container 11 by frictionally
engaging or fitting the cover 12 thereto. The opening 5 of the tubular
container 11 and the cover 12 have corresponding and mating means (not
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shown) that enables enclosing and sealing the snack food items 18
therein.
[0030] Fig. 4 is a second embodiment of the snack food container 20
of the present invention. The snack food container 20 comprises a tubular
shaped cover 24 having a tubular body portion 21 and top cover portion
22. The top cover portion 22 may have a handle 23 for allowing its users
for easier handling thereof. The bottom portion of the tubular shaped
cover 24 has an opening 6 for receiving a snack food item holder 25. The
snack food item holder 25 comprises a base member 26 and a pole
member 27 having first and second end, and the pole member 27 is
attached to the base member 26 at the first end. On the second end of the
pole member 27, a handle (not shown) may be attached thereto for
allowing its users easier handling of the snack food item holder 25. The
shape and size of the base member 26 substantially correspond to the
bottom opening 6, such that, when the snack food item holder 25 is
inserted from the bottom opening 6, the base member 26 closes the
opening 6 to create an enclosure. Corresponding fastening means (not
shown) are placed at both the opening 6 and the base member 26 for
releasably engaging the opening 6 and the base member 26. This allows
the container 20 to be resealed after partial consumption of the stacked
snack food items 18.
[00311 For packaging, referring to Fig. 5, snack food items 18 are
stacked together along the pole member 27 on the base member 26 of the
snack food item holder 25. The snack food item holder 25 with stacked
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snack food items 18 are inserted into the tubular cover 24 from the
bottom opening 6 till the base member 26 of the snack food item holder
25 engages and closes the opening 6.
[0032] Fig. 7 shows a top plan view of the snack food item holder 15
or 25, with a snack food item 18 thereon. The snack food item 18 has an
opening 35 therein. The pole member 17 or 27 is inserted through the
opening 35. The pole member 17 or 27 helps centering and aligning the
snack food items 18 to be aligned along the pole member 17 or 27 while
stacking on the snack food item holder 15 or 25.
[0033] Fig. 6 shows a decorative feature of the present invention.
The cover 12 or top cover portion 22 further comprises one or more coin
receiving means 31 for receiving a coin 32 for decoration. The receiving
means 31 detachably latches or holds a coin for decoration.
[0034] Optionally, in the case of the first embodiment of the snack
food container 10 of the present invention, the bottom surface 40 or
surface that is interfacing with the tubular container 11 of the cover 12
may optionally have one or more circular cutters 41 and 42 for enabling a
user to cut, for example, a cookie dough to form a shape, such that when
it is cooked in an oven, the cookies may be stacked in the container 10.
Similarly, such cutters 41 and 42 may be attached to the bottom surface
(not shown) of the base member 26 of the snack food holder 15 or 25 (in
the case of the second embodiment of the snack food container 20).
Furthermore, such cutters 41' or 42' may be attached at the bottom
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surface of the tubular container 11 instead. Further optionally, cutters 41
and 42 or 41' and 42' may be provided with an appropriate safety
measure, such as a cover for preventing any damages to the cutting edges
of the cutters 41, 42, 41' or 42', and ensuring safety of handlers / users.
[00351 The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of
the present invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration. It
is not intended for limiting the present invention to the precise forms
disclosed herein, and a person ordinary skilled in the art would appreciate
that various modifications and variations (i.e. length, size and shape) may
be possible in the light of the present invention without departing from the
scope of the invention. For example, the pole member 17 or 27 is shown
as a single pole in the description and drawings; however, such pole could
be more than one pole. In the case of multiple poles, one of those poles
may be placed in the center of the base member for handling the snack
food item holder and the rest of poles may be placed around the center
pole for stacking snack food items therealong.
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